facts & figures Under current plans, the 50-year-old USS Enterprise, the first nuclear-powered carrier, will be decommissioned next year. This is an opportunity for a Reduction-in-Force (RIF). Coburn also wants the Navy and Marine Corps to cancel their versions of the F-35, a fighter plane designed for the Cold War, now over for more than 20 years. He also wants to eliminate three nuclear submarines, from today’s 14 to 11. Coburn also recommends reducing military personnel stationed in Europe and Asia by one-third, and simultaneously, reducing authorized force levels by the same number, therefore not requiring increased U.S. facilities to handle the returnees.

facts & figures The socialized medicine program known as Tricare (second only to Medicare, in terms of expense to the federal government) is worth an estimated $3,500 per family in health insurance coverage.

related story:Cost of Treating Veterans Will Rise for Decades Long Past Wars' End --Ending the current wars will not lower the costs of treating veterans; indeed, they will rise ever more steeply for decades to come as the population of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan expands, ages and becomes more infirm, becoming more and more of a burden on the public fisc.

going deeper still:Senator Coburn vs Vietnam Veterans: No More Agent Orange Claims --a press release from Vietnam Veterans of America (an association of U.S. soldiers exposed to defoliants and herbicides used as a weapon by the U.S. military)

facts & figures: Information on dioxin exposures to American personnel serving overseas, entirely unaware of the environmental hazard to which the military was subjecting them, during the Vietnam war, with information for the Agent Orange Education Campaign, a project of the VVA

facts & figures 1,650 U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan, more than 11,000 maimed (many horribly, their lives shattered), and almost half a trillion of our tax dollars siphoned from crucial needs here at home.

quote: “The best data around shows that Army families have higher rates of spouse abuse, with negative repercussions for kids." ~Deborah Gibbs, deputy program director of the Women, Children and Families Program for Research at the research institute RTI International

quote: "Why, if we the taxpayers have ponied up over a trillion dollars for our woebegone wars in Iraq and the Bananastans, should any of us pull another dollar out of our wallet to make sure our troops get a candy bar for Christmas?" ~Jeff Huber

related op/edBallpark Liturgy: America’s New Civic Religion of Worshipping the Military Cheap Grace at Fenway, Benefits Accrue to the Pentagon Sponsoring Such Public Rituals at "No Cost" to the American Taxpayer By Andrew Bacevich --The cringing story of how Navy veteran Bridget (annual salary approximately $22,000) throws the ceremonial first pitch to aging Red Sox veteran Tim Wakefield (annual salary $2,000,000).

quote: "Those in uniform are being used as convenient fronts for a military industrial complex that is bilking taxpayers out of billions of dollars in questionable defense spending." ~Rev John Whitehead

quote: "The notion that militarization is a necessary reaction to a growth in violence against police officers is absurd, considering that violent crime is trending downward. The reality is that SWAT team raids actually escalate provocation, usually resulting in senseless violence in what would otherwise be a routine, nonviolent police procedure."

quote: Soldiers are “trained to vaporize, not Mirandize." ~Lawrence Korb, a former official in the Reagan administration, commenting on the pervasive culture of militarism plaguing domestic law enforcement

quote: "The state in all countries in the developed world is working its mischief as never before in world history. It taxes more, regulates more, manipulates more than ever. The state has never been more pompous, arrogant, and ambitious than it is today. The police state has visited the developed world in a manner none of us have seen in our lifetimes. The local police reflect that ethos. They disregard their heritage of wearing a civil mask and now bully people openly in a way contrary to freedom." ~Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr., former editorial assistant to Ludwig von Mises and congressional chief of staff to Ron Paul, founder and chairman of the Mises Institute, executor for the estate of Murray N. Rothbard, and editor of LewRockwell.com. http://lewrockwell.com/rockwell/ideas-and-culpability-for-violence1...

file under: attempted fraggingAWOL US Soldier Arrested Over Fort Hood 'Plot' A U.S. serviceman is in custody after he allegedly admitted he was planning an attack on his fellow servicemen at the U.S. Army base at Fort Hood, Texas, the same base where 13 people were killed in a 2009 terror attack.

quote: The complaint says: "Service is voluntary, and if not shown the respect and courtesy accorded their active-duty brethren, reservists will no longer be willing to make the personal, family and civilian-life sacrifices required."

facts & figures In the end, KBR collected about $2.4 billion under the no-bid uncompetitive contract, according to a Congressional report. It's not know by how much the U.S. governmetn overpaid KBR for services provided. KBR, was a subsidiary of the same company for which Vice President Cheney served as CEO. The decision to grant the contract to KBR came from the Office of the Secretary of Defense, run by VP Cheney’s close friend, Donald Rumsfeld.

quote: “I can unequivocally state that the abuse related to contracts awarded to KBR represents the most blatant and improper contract abuse I have witnessed during the course of my professional career.” ~Bunnatine “Bunny” Greenhouse, chief procurement officer, speaking to a congressional committee

file under: what the corporate media does not printThe Worst Polluter on the Globe: Seven Ways the U.S. Department of Defense Pollutes --the Department of Defense (DoD) is the largest polluter in the world, producing more hazardous waste than the five largest US chemical companies combined

facts & figures: China spends $95 billion on its military per year, whereas the U.S. spends $690 billion on its military (not including related expenditures for 15 separate "intelligence" departments and other "homeland security" spending). Ralph Nader, former presidential candidate, says the U.S. could easily reduce its military spending by 3/4ths without any compromise to national security.

It should be understood that an army is an instrument of murder, that the recruiting and drilling of armies which Kings, Emperors, and Presidents carry on with so much self-assurance are preparations for murder.

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People to come together to solve shared challenges at the grassroots level. This discussion forum is for events, plans, strategies and tactics to support sustainability and justice, including mutual aid and self-bootstrapping. Put your reviews of peace-promoting games and nonviolent disobedience training here as well.

Taxpayers can take stock of how the federal government spent their 2007 income tax dollars: over 42 percent went towards military spending, while education received just over 4 percent. The National Priorities Project shows how the average Tulsan family is diverting $360 of their 2007 income tax dollars to buy military hardware, military services, military advertising, military recruiters, and to pay down war debt accumulated by the military during past wars. The campaign for a Peace Tax in lieu of War Taxes is a nationwide campaign.